In my earlier issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,799, novel containers are disclosed which include a substantially rigid upper container segment, a flexible bladder integral with, and depending from, the upper container segment, and a lower substantially rigid container segment attached to the upper container segment so that the flexible bladder is housed therewithin. While the containers disclosed in that patent are usable in many end-use applications, certain specialized end-use applications demand equally specialized containers.
The containers of the present invention represent improvements over the container disclosed in my earlier filed parent and related applications, and are particularly well suited for use in additional special end-use applications as described further herein.
There is great concern in government and in the food packaging industry for potential environmental hazards associated with disposable plastic containers used in the packaging and sale of beverages such as milk, water, juice, etc. and other liquids or semi-liquids (viscous liquids) such as detergents, ketchup, etc. It has been estimated that in the dairy industry alone, as much as 500 million pounds of plastic are required each year for consumer oriented container applications, virtually all of which eventually finding its way to landfills and/or other waste sites. Significant amounts of waste plastic are also produced by the manufacture of such large amounts of plastic, thereby also contributing to the waste problem. The container assemblies of the present invention alleviate this problem to the extent of reducing the plastic required to form, for example a one-gallon container, by about fifty percent.
Moreover, and quite surprisingly, applicant has discovered that even with only approximately half the plastic content, containers made in accordance with this invention nevertheless pass the standard beverage container "drop test", by utilizing a low density polymer plastic, preferably polyethylene, in the container construction as disclosed herein.
As a result of this discovery, raw material costs for producing one gallon plastic containers are also reduced by about fifty percent. Given the sheer volume of such containers currently produced in the U.S., it is readily apparent that substantial savings, estimated at about 50% per unit for raw material costs, can be realized by constructing containers in accordance with this invention. Similar relative savings can be expected in smaller and larger containers. In addition to reduced cost, the amount of plastic disposed of by the consumer will also be reduced by about 50%, and the reduced raw material requirements will also result in reduced waste disposal at the plastics manufacturing plant.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, a collapsible container and carrier assembly is provided which includes an open-top, relatively rigid carrier and a relatively thin, flexible and collapsible container having an integral dispensing portion adapted to receive a conventional closure, e.g., a screw on cap. The container, which is preferably normally self-supporting (filled or empty), may be nested within the carrier.
In accordance with a preferred use of the invention, packagers in the dairy industry would fill one gallon plastic containers in accordance with this invention, ship the containers to retailers, divided proportionately (as determined by market demand) between containers nested in carriers, and stand alone containers. Additional carriers would also be supplied for separate sale, again as determined by consumer demand. Consumers would then purchase one or more of the relatively rigid reusable carriers and filled containers, and will thereafter purchase "refill" or "insert" plastic containers for nesting within the carriers or for use alone, as will be described further herein. The containers themselves would be collapsed and disposed of upon depletion of the liquid contents, and the collapsibility feature will result in significantly reduced volumes of waste.
It will be appreciated that the relatively rigid carriers provide protection, strength and rigidity to the overall assembly, which is particularly advantageous when the inner container is less than full, and thus more easily collapsed merely by handling. Specifically, the carrier and container shape are preferably complimentary so that good support is afforded to substantial portions of the container side and bottom walls.
It is a further advantageous feature of the invention that the container is releasably held within the carrier, so that pouring of the liquid contents is easily accomplished via use of a handle provided on the carrier, without danger of the container sliding out of the carrier.
It should be appreciated that while using the container with an associated carrier has certain benefits and advantages as described herein, the container may be used alone if desired. In other words, in the preferred embodiment, the container is normally self-supporting, but collapsible. This means that the container will stand alone both filled and empty, and the liquid contents may be poured from the container in a controlled fashion, particularly if the bottom of the container is held with the other hand to prevent the body of the container from collapsing during pouring.
Thus, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a collapsible container and carrier assembly comprising a relatively rigid carrier having a first peripheral side wall and a first bottom wall defining a first shape; a relatively thin, flexible and stand-along but collapsible container body having a second peripheral sidewall and a second bottom wall defining a second shape substantially complementary to the first shape; the container body also provided with a top wall having an integral or unitary, relatively rigid dispensing portion formed therein, wherein the container body is nestable within the carrier so that substantially all of the peripheral side wall and carrier bottom wall are in engagement with and provide support for the container peripheral side wall and container bottom wall.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a one-piece self-supporting, collapsible plastic container comprises a relatively thin peripheral side wall, a bottom wall and a top wall, the top wall having a unitary and relative rigid dispensing portion including closure receiving means formed thereon, the peripheral side wall having a thickness of between about 2 and about 12 mil, and the dispensing portion having a thickness of at least about 15 mil.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of packaging and distributing liquids is provided which comprises the steps of:
a) providing a relatively rigid and reusable carrier having a first peripheral side wall including a handle, a first bottom wall, and an open upper end;
b) providing a flexible and collapsible container having a second peripheral side wall, a second bottom wall and a top wall formed with an upstanding dispensing portion therein;
c) filling the container with a liquid and applying a removable closure to the dispensing portion;
d) nesting the container within the carrier such that substantially all of the carrier peripheral side wall and carrier bottom wall are in engagement with, and provide support for, the container peripheral side wall and container bottom wall;
e) discharging the liquid from the container by removing the closure and tilting the carrier via the handle to thereby pour the liquid from the dispensing portion; and
f) when the container is empty, removing the empty container from the carrier.
Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the cost of such beverage and other liquid containers can be significantly reduced, while at the same time alleviating environmental concerns by reason of a significant reduction in the amount of plastic required to manufacture such containers, and a concurrent reduction in amount and volume of plastic container waste at the consumer and manufacturing levels.
Additional objects and advantages of the variously described exemplary embodiments of the invention will become apparent after careful consideration of the detailed description which follows.